Failure of reformism led to Greek tragedy

The agreement in Greece has been widely described as a coup—and in some ways it is.

Europe’s rulers have used vicious financial and political blackmail to overturn the Greek people’s vote against austerity.

But there was no gun to the head of prime minister Alexis Tsipras, of radical left party Syriza, when he agreed to the latest austerity deal. He asked the vultures to compromise. When they said no, he had no Plan B but surrender.

To recover from this blow we need to look honestly at how that happened. Syriza was supposed to be different to the old Labour-type social democratic parties.

All reformists seek to use the capitalist state to bring about change. And this state has always changed them more than they have changed it.

Revolutionary socialists look instead to the struggles of the working class. This isn’t out of dogmatism. It’s because this is the only way to win. Workers keep the wheels of capitalism turning. Their movements can bring it to a halt.

Petros Constantinou is a leading member of the Socialist Workers Party in Greece (SEK) and an Athens councillor in the anti-capitalist front Antarsya. He said, “We don’t want the left government to fall at the hands of the EU rulers.

“We celebrated the left government. But, we said, that isn’t our power—and prepared people to fight back.”

Greece’s crisis has posed questions that only workers’ control can answer. And the existence of a party arguing this was central to countering the bosses’ blackmail in the referendum.

Many who once said there was no future outside Syriza now talk as if there’s no future at all. And if the Greek left couldn’t keep Syriza on their side, what chance does socialist Jeremy Corbyn have of reclaiming the rotten Labour Party?

The Greek crisis underlines vividly that even the best socialists can find themselves disarmed at crucial moments—unless they have a revolutionary party.